Huawei retains ranking as second biggest smartphone maker

from MARIA MACHARIA in Nairobi, KenyaNAIROBI – CHINESE firm maker, Huawei, has maintained its position as the world’s second largest smartphone vendor for two consecutive quarters.

This is according to leading analyst firms, which indicate that while its market share was down slightly from last quarter’s 15,9 percent, Huawei still shipped 52 million handsets and grabbed 14,6 percent global market share.

Huawei exceeded Apple in July and is second behind Samsung.

According to the International Data Corporation (IDC), IHS Markit and Counterpoint, smartphone vendors shipped 355,2 million units in the third quarter, down by 6 percent year over year, leading to a fourth-quarter loss.

This casts doubt on the smartphone market.

However, Huawei is seen gaining momentum.

Its performance is attributed to its persistent efforts in research and
development (R&D) and customer experience.

In 2017, Huawei invested Chinese Yuan (CNY89,7 billion), which is
equivalent to $13 billion into R&D, accounting for 15 percent of its total revenue, ranked sixth in terms of global R&D investment.

The company has set up 14 R&D centres worldwide and 36 joint innovation centres.

Richard Yu, Chief Executive Officer of Huawei Consumer Business Group, said the global shipment of Huawei smartphones had exceeded 100 million by July this year.

Huawei believes it is well positioned to hit the 200 million annual target.